This invention relates generally to gaskets, and more particularly to a spiral wound cylinder head gasket for providing a combustion seal.
Typically, a spiral wound cylinder head gasket has a combination of alternating strips of metal and a sealing material. The metal strip is usually profiled longitudinally to provide the assembled spiral with a degree of controlled axial compressibility. The gasket provides a combustion seal for a cylinder or cylinders in the engine block of an internal combustion engine.
In accordance with the present invention, a cylinder head gasket has a metal strip which is spirally wound upon itself, with a strip of a sealing material such as graphite interposed between some of the windings of the metal strip. Two or more of the innermost windings on the internal diameter (I.D.) of the metal strip are in surface-to-surface contact without interposed sealing material. A solid ring of sealing material on the O.D. completes the gasket. The tightly wound metal on the I.D. improves the high pressure sealing of gases by creating a stiff and relatively rigid seal, while the molded sealing material on the O.D. improves the sealing of fluids by providing a relatively soft and readily conformable seal to accommodate the changes in the operating conditions and any movement of mating components of the engine, such as the engine block and a combustion cylinder liner.
One object of this invention is to provide a cylinder head gasket having the foregoing features and capabilities.